I recently took a trip to Canada and was surprised to learn that a key filming location for the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie was just eight minutes off our main route! Located in Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, this location was home to much of the Green Hills scenes in the sequel including the town hall, main street and Mean Bean coffee storefront. Enjoy this walk through cinema history!
With the Sonic the Hedgehog movie sequel, appropriately titled Sonic the Hedgehog 2, having wrapped in Toronto we now have an official plot synopsis from Paramount:
After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is ready for more freedom, and Tom and Maddie agree to leave him home while they go on vacation. But, no sooner are they gone, when Dr. Robotnik comes back, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to both build and destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands. Being directed by Jeff Fowler, and starring Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Ben Schwartz.
On this, our milestone 50th episode of SEGA Talk, George and Barry look back on the development, release and legacy of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. We cover the game’s unique creation in America, the debut of Miles “Tails” Prower and the comics and cartoon adaptations that took place following the game’s release.
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IMPORTANT UPDATE: It ends up the Ouya controller WAS the problem of my control woes as I got the Fire Controller from Amazon today and I can say that Crazy Taxi works just fine on it. The drive/reverse buttons are in their proper place and we have brakes! The gas and brakes or on the R and L triggers respectfully, so while still not that comfortable, work much, much better than before. I owe an apology to Sega for blasting their port when it was poor bluetooth controller support that was the main culprit.
Last week, I picked up the new Fire TV as a mini console for my living room. I like the idea of playing some mobile games on a full blown console but sadly, the Ouya just wasn’t what I wanted out in that regard. Fire TV solves that by not only having a ton of video apps, but much more popular mobile games rather than the overload of weak indy games the Ouya consists of. Very fun games like Asphalt 8, Rayman Fiesta Run and Riptide 2 occupy a decent launch library. Those games include some of Sega’s more popular titles. I tried out four of the eight Sega games available and sadly, the porting of those titles from seems to not have gone over as well as hoped. My impressions after the jump.
Amazon’s new Roku/Ouya killer Fire TV was announced yesterday with a lineup of software partners including SEGA themselves. We didn’t really know what the lineup of games were until the system got shipped to the public today. Here’s Sega’s list of games along with their prices.
Since the Amazon Fire TV doesn’t make use of Google services, some of the games won’t have Google Play Achievements or use Google’s leaderboards. That will also mean that Sonic 2 doesn’t have multiplayer since it used Google’s services. According to Taxman, the developer, Sonic 2 won’t even have a splitscreen mode due to ‘the projects scope’. The Amazon Fire TV is already shipping and you can purchase on here. Gaming controller sold separately.
Now this one is unusual! Instead of loading a commercial with loud noises and attitude, SEGA took to lampooning “As Seen on TV” ads instead. Well what can I say? It’s hilarious! I have to admit, even though it’s through a mail in rebate, this is a surprisingly good deal. These days your lucky to get a pack in game with your system, let alone a rebate that gets you a recently released triple A game completely free.
Given that Sonic 2 was one of the best-selling Genesis games of all time released in the middle of the Genesis’s most successful years on the market, I can’t help but wonder why SEGA would offer a deal like this. With consoles like Wii U and Vita struggling, maybe it’s time Nintendo and Sony took a leaf out of the Genesis playbook and offered a deal like this?
In the early 90s SEGA was in a pretty good place. They had finally managed to break through Nintendo’s monopoly over the market, Sonic was a hit and the Genesis was on top. Even so, the Genesis’s position was still precarious. By 1992 the Genesis was four years old and its age was beginning to show. The SNES was beginning to really show off its superior graphics and sound capabilities and the incredible Mode 7 effect on display in Mario Kart was out of the Genesis’s reach (at least, until the release of Pier Solar twenty years later).
So how does SEGA respond? With awesome marketing of course! Marketing that brags about the one thing that the Genesis can do better than the Super Nintendo: speed. What makes this ad even more spectacular is how it takes Mario Kart, the SNES’s most impressive looking game at the time, and compares it to a broken down jalopy. That takes some serious balls.
Blast processing may have been bullshit, but you can’t deny the sheer effectiveness of this ad. Especially since the Genesis continued to dominate the industry in the West after 1992.
The Sonic series has played host to a wide variety of musical styles over the years, ranging from the old school chiptunes of the Genesis era to today’s modern cheese rock from bands like Crush 40. Never, however, have I ever thought to associate Sonic the Hedgehog with swing music. That is, until Sonic Generations was released.
Anyone who’s been paying close attention to Tuesday Tunes may know I have an affection for old school American genres like jazz and swing. So, when I first heard this track play in Sonic Generations 3DS, I was blown away. This is a really great piece of swing, serving as the perfect backdrop for the remake of Sonic’s first casino stage. Easily my favorite remix to come out of the Sonic Generations games.
Of course, it helps that the original track from Sonic 2 was also pretty kick ass. Nice example of what the Genesis could do musically in the right hands. Go ahead and see for yourself below the fold!
SEGA and High Voltage’s sequel to The Conduit is finally hitting store shelves after many delays. The Wii shooter faces stiff competition today from Valve’s Portal 2 sequel and the new Mortal Kombat video game. Europe and Australia get the game on the 22nd.
Playstation 3 owners now get to play Virtua Tennis 4 with the exclusive world tour demo. The demo last week was exclusive to PSN Plus subscribers, this week it’s available for all PSN users. The demo clocks in at 878 MB.
Talking about PSN plus exclusives, Sonic 2 hits PSN for all users this week. Like the Virtua Tennis 4 demo, this was exclusive and free for Playstation Plus users for one week. The game will set you back a cool $4.99. Small price to pay for the best Sonic game ever.
CVG has just reported that from April 19th through April 25th, Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode I, Crazy Taxi, and OutRun Online Arcade will have their prices slashed by 50%. OutRun will run you 400 points, Sonic 4 will cost 600, and Crazy Taxi will set you back another 400 points. No better time to pick these titles up than now.
SEGA Europe has posted a blog about this same sale that includes ALL of their XBLA titles included in this sale. Pick these titles up NOW. Below is a of the titles on sale.
